The invention relates to a wringer basket for wet mops, made up of a basket cone that has a perforated basket cone bottom and a basket cone wall that rises from the latter on all sides, with slits in at least part of the wall, a basket edge, and attachment elements for setting the wringer basket onto the edge of a bucket.
It is true that round mops can be wrung out, in simple manner, in perforated baskets set onto buckets, or in lever-activated wringers; however, they do not allow precise control on the floor, particularly in corners, narrow locations, on stairs, and in other locations that are difficult to access. Wet mops with an oblong outline shape are limited with regard to their movement possibilities, particularly also on stairs; increased effort is required for wringing them out.
The wet mops that are frequently used and are generally referred to as xe2x80x9cspaghetti mops,xe2x80x9d with relatively long strands that hang down as a bundle, can, in a practical situation, only be guided over the floor area to be cleaned by using slinging movements. While it is true that large, open floor areas can be quickly cleaned, handling of the mop requires a lot of effort and is not ergonomically efficient. Also, the wet mop cannot be guided into narrow regions and corners, or only to an insufficient extent. These wet mops can only be wrung out in wringers, between compression plates, and are very predominantly used only in the commercial sector.
Such wringer baskets serve to wring out wet mops that are made up essentially of a bundle of strips, strands, or flaps of absorbent material, and have a mop head attached to a handle. The wet mop is pressed into the basket cone from above, so that the water is pressed out of the wet mop partially due to the compression effect, and partially as a result of a wringing process that results from a knot formation. In this connection, the basket wall that rises from the basket bottom on all sides serves to exert lateral pressure on the wet mop, as a result of the shape of the basket, which narrows towards the bottom, on the one hand; on the other hand, the basket wall is supposed to hold the wet mop in place in such a way that when it is twisted, a knot formation and therefore a wringing effect occurs. Known wringer baskets of the species stated initially (DE 195 03 572 C1) have ribs that project towards the inside, or depressions, in order to better hold the mop in place during a rotational movement, and to exert a stronger wringing pressure on the wet mop, by way of the basket cone wall, which for the remainder rises in a straight line. These known basket cones are therefore relatively narrow and deep; they therefore make it necessary to use a sufficiently deep water bucket, so that the bottom of the basket cone is not submerged in the water and, at the same time, a sufficiently large storage area for the water remains below the bottom of the basket cone.
Such high buckets are heavy and at risk of tipping over. In addition to the wringer basket that is suspended in the water bucket, however, a sufficiently large access area still has to be available so that the wet mop can be dipped into the water. The minimum dimensions of the water bucket that result from this make it difficult to securely suspend the wringer basket, which is relatively high and narrow for the reasons stated.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to structure a wringer basket of the species indicated initially in such a way that a good wringing effect is achieved at a low basket depth, for wet mops of different sizes, particularly also for oblong wet mops.
The object is achieved according to the invention, in that the basket cone wall has a convex curvature towards the inside of the basket cone, seen in cross-section.
This convex curvature of the basket cone wall has the result that the basket cone has a lesser cone angle in its lower region, adjacent to the bottom of the basket cone, because the basket cone wall rises relatively steeply here. In contrast, in the upper region, close to the edge, the basket cone is relatively flat, with basket cone walls that rise only slightly. This structure results in a good wringing effect, even with different sizes of wet mops. In particular, the knot formation for wringing out the wet mop is supported in this way, because the lower ends of the strips, strands, or flaps of the wet mop, which hang down, are effectively held in place in the narrow region of the basket cone, close to the bottom, and the basket cone walls with a convex curvature towards the inside subsequently exert a high lateral compression force on the wet mop.
Relatively large wet mops, particularly long ones, are also wrung out well, because their top region, adjacent to the mop head, is pressed against the upper region of the basket cone walls, where they rise at a low angle, because of the pressure effect exerted from the top, and wrung out there.
The structure of the basket cone walls according to the present invention makes it possible to structure the basket cone flat and broad, so that the wringer basket as a whole has only a slight depth and therefore does not require a particularly high water bucket. Instead, even in a normal or actually a relatively shallow water bucket, a sufficiently large area to hold the water is available below the bottom of the basket cone.
In accordance with an especially preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the outline of the basket cone is oval, at least in certain parts.
Thus the transition from the conical region of the basket to the edge of the basket can lie on an approximately oval line. In addition, or instead, it can also be provided that the edge of the bottom of the basket cone is approximately oval.
This oval structure of the basket cone, at least in parts, results in a particularly good wringing effect in the case of a rotational movement of the wet mop to be wrung out.
It is particularly advantageous if the outline of the wringer basket is approximately an oblong, rounded rectangle, and attachment elements are provided at both narrow sides and one long side. This wringer basket can be affixed, in particularly space-saving manner, at the end of a water bucket that is rectangular in outline, where a sufficiently large access opening remains clear for dipping the wet mop into the bucket, next to the wringer basket. This water bucket can therefore be structured to be very small and light, so that its handling is significantly facilitated, also in the household sector. Oblong wet mops with a scrubber-like structure and handling can also be easily and efficiently wrung out.
Other advantageous further developments of the idea of the invention are the object of additional dependent claims.
The invention will be explained in greater detail below, using exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings.
These show:
FIG. 1 a wringer basket for wet mops in a top view,
FIG. 2 a cross-section along line IIxe2x80x94II in FIG. 41,
FIG. 3 in a top view, the wringer basket shown in FIG. 1 and 2 on a rectangular bucket,
FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 in representations corresponding to FIG. 2, wringing processes with wet mops of different sizes, and
FIG. 7 in a top view corresponding to FIG. 1, a modified embodiment.